The Deathtrap Dungeon
by Brimstone
Summary: Count Marzo kidnaps the king and queen of Eternia and challenges He-man to survive his deadly maze of traps in order to save them.
1. Deathtrap Dungeon

**The Deathtrap Dungeon**

By Richard Taylor 

Fabian didn't know how long he had been running but it felt like he had been in this underground maze forever. Fabian cursed himself for accepting the challenge of walking this cursed maze. Suddenly there was a noisy crash coming from the bend in front of him. Fabian quickly stopped in his tracks; he knew the maze contained Goblins, Orcs and Trolls alongside other deadly creatures that he wanted to stay away from them as much as possible. Holding his breath Fabian slowly crept towards the corner and carefully peeked around it. In the centre of the corridor stood three ugly Orcs each were carrying a death sword. Near the Orcs Fabian saw a door partly hidden behind vine and roots that grew out of the walls and roof of the corridor. Fabian patiently waited for the Orcs to begin walking away from the door. Praying to the gods of Eternia Fabian ran towards the door and hoped that it wasn't locked. The Orcs span around as they heard the rushing footsteps of Fabian but they were too late to stop Fabian before he got through the door.

Fabian quickly locked the door behalf him. The Orcs pounded on the door but the door wouldn't budge. After catching his breath Fabian turned to examine the room he had entered. The room was bare except for a set of steps that led upwards. Ignoring the snarls of the Orcs Fabian slowly made his way to the steps. After making sure that there was no traps that he could see Fabian carefully made his way up the steps. As he reached the middle of the steps they suddenly gave way and Fabian was sent falling in to a pit of sharp spears.

Count Marzo was pleased with this latest test of his maze. Ever since he had discovered it buried under the ruins of an ancient fortress he had begun to prepare it for the ultimate challenge, his enemy He-man. The time drawing near when he would no longer use the peasants in the maze, soon the most powerful man in the universe would finally meet his fate at the hands of Count Marzo.

"How far did this peasant get?" asked Marzo.

"About quarter of the way." replied one of Marzo's servants.

"Good, good," said Marzo. "Even though He-man has several times the strength of these mere peasants, he will still get no further than quarter of the way through my maze. All I need to do is bate the trap and wait for that muscle bound fool to fall in to it."

The sky above the city of Eternos was a brilliant clear blue without a cloud to be seen. Queen Marlena and King Randor were making their way to the city market in search for a suitable gift for Teela's birthday. Count Marzo had slipped in to the city disguised as a simple villager, he spotted both the king and queen and after checking where the royal guards were watching the royal couple Count Marzo started to follow them at a distance until he found the right time to spring his trap.

Queen Marlena walked up to a market stall that was selling all manner of statuettes.

"Teela would love something like this." said Marlena as she held up a statuette of a horse galloping through a field.

"I agree," replied Randor. "However I believe that Teela would prefer something more exotic," Randor turned to the stall owner. "Tell me kind sir, do you have any of these statuettes that are unique? Cost is no object."

The stall owner looked up at the king and queen and shook his head.

"I wish that I had," he said. "All I have are these statuettes you see here."

"Will you be around for long?" asked Marlena.

"I'll be around until the market closes or I sell all of my stock." replied the stall owner.

"Good we shall continue looking around the market," said Marlena. "If we do not find anything else then we shall return and purchase some of your statuettes."

The stall owner smiled and watched as the king and queen left his stall. Standing nearby Count Marzo had heard the whole conversation and it gave him an idea about how to capture the king and queen. Quickly Count Marzo found a corner of the market where he wouldn't be spotted and using his century's old magic Count Marzo made a stall out of thin air. As the dazzling light from his magic began to fade small horse like statuettes started to appear on the shelves of the stall.

"Now all I have to do is wait for the king and queen to come to Me." laughed Count Marzo to himself as he entered the stall.

A couple of hours passed as Marzo waited for the king and queen to stumble on to his stall. In the distance Marzo caught sight of the royal couple heading his way.

"We are in luck," said Marlena as she spotted Marzo's stall. "There is another stall that sells those horse statuettes."

Marzo waited patiently as the king and queen made their way over to his stall. Marlena could see all kinds of exotic horse statuettes.

"I'm glad you like my statuettes," said Marzo. "I have travelled from one corner of Eternia to the other to gather such a fine collection to sell. This is my personal favourite." Marzo then held up a statuette of a horse with the hind of a fish's tail inside the horse Marlena could see a small glow.

"It is beautiful." said Marlena as she turned to show the statuette to King Randor.

"It is made out of the finest Ice stone," explained Marzo as King Randor took the statuette from Marlena. "As you can see it was crafted by the finest artist in the ice region in the north."

As Randor and Marlena stared at the statuette the small glowing stone inside pulsed brighter. Randor and Marlena found themselves unable to tear their gaze away from the glowing stone, suddenly their bodies began to slow down and their limbs started to grow heavy. Marzo watched with a smile. Once the royal couple's bodyguards realized that something was wrong they leaped in to action. As the first two guards raced to help the king and queen Count Marzo waved his hands over two of his statuettes. Instantly Marzo's magic transformed the statuettes in to large demonic horses with dark knights riding their backs. The horses leaped from Marzo's stall and attacked the guards. As the guards battled with Marzo's knights Marzo looked around for the other guards. He saw them pushing their way through the crowd that had gathered. Marzo once again raised his arms and he along with the king and queen along with the stall were engulfed in a tornado of flames and vanished leaving the crowd of onlookers stunned.

Prince Adam along with several of the Heroic Warriors were in the great hall of the royal palace preparing for the huge party they were going to have in honour of Teela's birthday. Teela had been away on training practice with a squad of her Royal Guards so this was the perfect moment to set up the party.

"Teela will be over the moon when she sees what we've done for her." said Adam as he handed some decorations to Stratos to fly to the top of the room.

"She sure will," replied Man-At-Arms as he set the table for his daughter's presents. "This party will go down in history-"

Man-At-Arms stopped mid sentence as he saw a couple of the royal guards entered the room.

"What is wrong?" said Adam sensing that there was something wrong.

The guard closest to Adam stepped forward and was about to speak when a ball of fire suddenly flew through the window and landed in the centre of the room. Everyone watched in stunned amazement as a face formed in the flames. Adam recognized the face as that of Count Marzo.

The guards instantly raced between Adam and the flames. Suddenly two streams of fire shot out of Marzo's eyes and struck the guards. The guards screamed in pain as the flames engulfed them and sent them flying across the room and crashing in to a wall. Snout Spout immediately raced in to action, raising his hose-like trunk Snout Spout sprayed a jet of water over the guards putting out the flames.

"I'm impressed, I applaud your skill my elephant headed friend," laughed Marzo. Snout Spout ignored Marzo's taunts and continued giving the guards medical aid. The flame head of Marzo turned back to Adam. "I do hope that they haven't ruined my surprise for you?"

"What are you on about?" snapped Adam more concerned about the two guards than the magician.

"The fact I have kidnapped both of your parents," Adam's head snapped around as soon as Marzo's words reached him. "Do not worry; they are still alive, though that depends on how quickly you do this one task for me.

I know that you and He-man are good friends, so it should be easy for you to deliver a message to him. Tell He-man to be at the ruins of the fortress of Sardath before the sun sets. If he is not there by then the king and queen shall take his place in the little adventure I have planned."

Suddenly Marzo's face vanished from the flames, the ball of fire then flared brightly and vanished leaving a room full of stunned Heroic Warriors and a horrified Prince Adam behind.

The king and queen opened their eyes to find themselves in a circular stone room, the room strangely contained six large wooden doors. As King Randor got to his feet and decided to inspect the doors to see if they were locked Count Marzo suddenly appeared and along side Marzo stood the form of Marzo's bodyguard Chimera.

"I am pleased that my spell is wareing off, I hope you are feeling no side effects." said Marzo.

"Marzo," snarled King Randor. "How dare you keep the royal couple as prisoners."

Marzo made a show of his hurt feelings before answering.

"You are mistaken," said Marzo. "You are not prisoners. You can leave this room at any time. If you don't believe me just open one of the doors, you'll find they are all unlocked."

Randor was sceptical about Marzo's claims but decided to try the doors himself. Randor pushed past Marzo who raised a hand to stop Chimera from attacking and walked over to the nearest of the six door.

"But I don't think you will like what is on the other side." said Marzo as Randor reached for the door's handle.

Randor glanced back at Marzo and turned to the door and pulled it open. Behind the door Randor could see a long corridor carved out of the stone. Randor carefully took a step forward and was suddenly yanked off his feet backwards. Looking up Randor saw that it was Chimera who had pulled him back.

"You said we were free to go!" snapped Randor quickly getting to his feet.

"Indeed I did," replied Marzo. "However if you had continued through that door then all I have worked for would be over prematurely."

Confused at Marzo's words Randor followed Marzo's pointed finger back to the door he had just tried to walk through. In the doorway at about where his head would be were a set of twin spinning blades. Randor then realized that if it wasn't for Chimera dragging him from the door he would have been killed in an instant.

"There is only one true way out of this room," explained Marzo. "Behind the other doors are traps more deadly than this one."

"Why are you doing this?" snapped Queen Marlena.

Marzo reluctantly turned to the queen.

"Why you ask," hissed Marzo. "For over a thousand years I have watched as my family's bloodline was denied what was rightfully theirs. The throne of Eternia rightfully belongs to my bloodline not one of common stock. I vowed that I would use my immortal life to bring my bloodline to what is rightfully theirs. But I have been denied each time by you and your ancestors and that meddling muscle-bound barbarian He-man."

"There has never been  legitimate proof that your ancestors were ever in line for the throne of Eternia." said Randor.

"Of cause there is," cried Marzo. "I am that proof. And now that I have you and soon I shall have He-man there will only be one person in my way, Prince Adam. He will not be able to withstand my demands for him to hand over the throne to me."

"It is true your immortality has driven you insane." said Randor.

Marzo smiled at Randor.

"I have never been saner," said Marzo. "And soon all of Eternia shall know who the true ruler of the planet is. Anyway we are getting off the subject. You are the prize in a little game I have in store for He-man, you would be advised to stay in this room and wait to see if He-man can rescue you, though it is very doubtful. Or you can attempt to escape yourselves, again it'll be very doubtful that you shall survive long."

Marzo then waved his hand in the air and he and Chimera vanished in a shower of flames.

"You cannot go alone," said Man-At-Arms as he and Prince Adam entered the vehicle bay of the royal palace. "Marzo will surely have some sort of trap waiting for you."

"I understand," replied Adam. "But Marzo has gone too far this time. His insane quest to take over the throne has pushed him over the edge, I cannot risk him harming my parents if I don't show up alone."

Adam then reached behind his back and withdrew the Sword of Power and held it above his head.

"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL........" cried Adam, instantly a burst of magical energy shot from the sword and washed over the prince. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!!"

Once the magic had faded Prince Adam was gone and in his place was He-man the champion of Eternia.

"What is the fastest vehicle we have?" asked He-man.

"I have just finished up gradeding the Lazer Bolt," said Man-At-Arms. "It should get you to Sardath well before sunset."

"Thanks old friend." said He-man as he walked over to the waiting Lazer Bolt.

"You know with the king and queen in the hands of Marzo the people of Eternos will be wondering where Adam has gone." said Man-At-Arms.

"You'll have to make up something," said He-man. "I know tell them that due to the current events it is believed that it would be wisest for Adam to be in Castle Grayskull until Count Marzo has been captured and the king and queen safely brought home."

Man-At-Arms nodded and watched as He-man strapped himself in to the Lazer Bolt. He-man started up the Lazer Bolt and roared out of the vehicle bay towards the ruins of Sardath.

The sun was just beginning to set as the Lazer Bolt sped in to the ruins of Sardath. He-man stopped the Lazer Bolt and was unstrapping himself when Count Marzo and Chimera suddenly appeared in a set of flames.

"I'm glad you made it," said Marzo he then turned to look at the setting sun. "And with seconds to spare."

Trying hard to keep his anger under control He-man walked up to Marzo.

"Enough small talk," hissed He-man. "Where are the king and queen?"

Feeling that his master was being threatened Chimera stepped in between He-man and Marzo. He-man had fought Chimera many times before and won but the huge bodyguard refused to step out of the way until Marzo placed a hand on his massive shoulder.

"It is ok," said Marzo. "He will not do anything to me, not while I have the queen and king prisoner in my maze."

Chimera reluctantly nodded his head and stepped out of He-man's way.

"The king and queen are in the heart of my maze," explained Marzo. "I assure you that they are unharmed, however I cannot say how long that will last, only you can determine that."

"What do you want?" asked He-man through clenched teeth.

"Not much," replied Marzo. "All I ask is that you walk my maze. If you get that far you will find the king and queen."

Marzo then pointed at a huge wooden door that looked hundreds if not thousands of years old.

"All you need to do is walk through that door."

Seeing as he had no option He-man turned and walked up to the door. Even though it was old the door was strong and heavy. He-man had to use all of his incredible strength to push the door open. Once the door was open enough He-man stepped in to the darkness beyond. Using the little light from the doorway He-man looked at his surroundings, he was standing in a large corridor that looked like it had been carved from the rock centuries ago. Along each wall were small alcoves that had once held torches which people would have been able to see by. As He-man stepped further in to the corridor the door behind him suddenly slammed shut the noise echoing through the darkness and leaving He-man in total darkness. He-man drew the Sword of Power and held it in to the darkness.

"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!" called out He-man.

Instantly the Sword of Power began to glow in He-man's hand, soon the glow was bright enough for He-man to see his way. The corridor seemed to go on forever; He-man could hear the faint sound of running water. He-man walked towards the sound and after a few minutes he found himself standing at the bank of a underground river. The river was too wide for him to jump across and He-man suspected that the river was also too deep for him to wade through. With no option He-man began to walk the river bank in search of something that would help him get across the river. As He-man was just about to turn to search the other way he spotted what look to him like a bridge that spanned the river. As he got closer he saw that it was in fact an old rope bridge. Making sure that the bridge was able to safely take his weight He-man slowly stepped on to the bridge. The bridge swayed and creaked with every step He-man took but it remained firm under his feet. As He-man neared the centre of the bridge he heard a screeching scream echo through the darkness. Quickly reading his sword He-man heard the sound of flapping wings. As the glow from the Sword of Power cut through the dark He-man saw two sets of glowing red eyes. Suddenly a giant bat shot out of the darkness and flew towards He-man. He-man raised his sword just in time to deflect a blow from the bat's razor sharp teeth. He-man quickly span around as the bat flew in to the darkness again. He-man listened to the flaps of the bat's wings as it circled around for another attack. The bat shot towards He-man again causing him to almost lose his balance, quickly grabbing the rope handle of the bridge and swung off the bridge and back on to it behind the bat. Raising his sword He-man aimed it at the bat as it swung around, concentrating He-man fired a bolt of energy from the tip of the sword. The bolt struck the bat and it let out a piercing scream before it fell stunned in to the river. As the water carried the bat away He-man returned to crossing the bridge. Once he was on the other side of the bridge He-man saw a huge wooden gate. It was as old as the door that he had entered Count Marzo's maze through and it looked just as strong. Carefully He-man ran his fingers over the stone wall next to the gate in search for a hidden latch or handle that he could use to open the gate. Suddenly he heard a clicking sound and then the gate began to rumble and lift off the ground. Ducking under the rising gate and in to another corridor. He-man was surprised by what he saw, were the last corridor was pitch black this one was bathed in light from the many torches that lined the walls. In the distance He-man could see wooden doors lining the walls. Quickly He-man walked up to the first door, he grasped the door handle and found it looked, He-man was about to turn and try another door when he heard the sounds of moaning coming from the other side. He-man quickly raised the Sword of Power and brought it crashing down on the door's lock. With a spark the lock shattered and the door swung open. As soon as the door had opened He-man was hit by the overwhelming stench of decay and death. Holding his breath He-man stepped in to the room. It was littered in debris and He-man had to be careful where he stepped. In the centre of the room was a large man tied to what looked like a cross, he was battered and bloody with vermin nipping at them making them worse.

"Please help me." said the man weakly as he lifted his head up.

He-man raced over to the man and with his sword chased off the vermin. He-man then cut the man down from the cross and helped him out of the room.

"T-T-Thank you," said the man as He-man sat him down and let him get some fresh air. "I've been trapped in that room for weeks. I thought I was going to die in there."

"How did you end up being trapped in there?" asked He-man as he gulped down the air in the corridor.

"I was in search of my missing family," said the man. "When I was captured by Count Marzo's men. He gave me the chance to rescue them if only I walked his maze, I got half way before I was ambushed by a band of Orcs and ended locked in that cursed room. What about you? What happened for you to be walking the maze?"

"Much of the same thing," replied He-man. "Count Marzo has kidnapped the king and queen of Eternos. He has set me the challenge of finding them in this maze."

"Then it seems we have a common goal," said the man as he pushed himself off the ground. "I believe that it would be wisest if we work together, that way we can save both the king and queen as well as my family," the man then held out his hand to He-man. "My name is Thaymor."

"I'm He-man." he replied shaking Thaymor's hand.

As the name sank in a wide grin appeared on Thaymor's face.

"With the champion of Eternia here not even Count Marzo's cursed Deathtrap Dungeon will be a match." said Thaymor.

"I hope you are right." said He-man as they began to walk through the maze.

King Randor carefully crept up to one of the six doors, slowly he reached out for handle. They had tried four of the other doors each of those contained a trap of some kind. Randor could hear Queen Marlena hold her breath in anticipation of what awaited them behind the door. Slowly Randor pulled the door open, behind the door was an empty corridor. Randor knew from the other doors that appearances were deceptive. Randor removed his cloak and threw it in to the corridor in the attempt to set off any traps that Count Marzo may have set for them. After a few seconds of waiting Randor slowly stepped in to the corridor. Again nothing happened, Randor turned back to Queen Marlena.

"I think we've found the safe corridor." said Marlena as she walked up to her husband.

"Yes," replied Randor. "But I'm sure that Marzo will have other surprises in store for us."

Thaymor and He-man entered a small room full of weapons, in one corner of the room lay a body of another unfortunate victim of Marzo's maze. He-man turned to Thaymor and could see tears welling up in his eyes.

"That is my brother," said Thaymor his voice dripping with anger. He then walked over to one of the racks of weapons and grabbed a large broadsword. "I swear I shall make Marzo pay for this!"

"And I'll aid you in bringing Marzo to justice." vowed He-man.

As the two men turned to leave the room they heard a scratching sound coming from behind them. Slowly the two warriors turned, the body of Thaymor's brother was moving.

"Bryar!!" cried Thaymor as he raced over to his brother. "You're alive!!"

Bryar stared up at Thaymor with blank staring eyes.

"What has Marzo done to you?" asked Thaymor as Bryar reached out with a bloody hand.

Suddenly Bryar lashed out at Thaymor, He-man quickly leaped in to action and grabbed Bryar's hand before it could make contact with Thaymor's face. Thaymor staggered backwards stunned as He-man lifted the snarling Bryar off the ground. Bryar kicked at He-man forcing him to throw Bryar to the ground. Bryar wasn't even fazed as he hit the ground, with a snarl of rage and got to his feet and charged at He-man. Without the time to draw his sword and grabbed Bryar by the front of his bloody shirt and lifted him off the ground and in one quick movement He-man slammed Bryar in to a rack of weapons. Bryar let out an ear shattering scream as several spears impaled themselves through his body.

Shaking himself from his stunned state Thaymor stared at his brother struggling to free himself from the weapons rack, and then he turned to He-man.

"That is not my brother!" said Thaymor pointing to the still screaming Bryar. "What is that thing?"

"It's the effects of a very powerful and evil spell," explained He-man as he raised his sword to the struggling Bryar. "It reanimates dead bodies turning them in to mindless zombies that only have one instinct, to kill anything still alive. There's unfortunately no way to kill a zombie but I can lift the curse and allow Bryar to die." He-man turned to Thaymor waiting for his permission to end Bryar's agony.

"Do what ever you need to do He-man," said Thaymor. "End the suffering of my brother."

He-man turned back to Bryar, the blade of the Sword of Power began to glow with bright blue energy. He-man tried to ignore Bryar's snarls as the beam of energy shot out from the blade and struck Bryar in the chest. The magical energy from the Sword of Power raced through the body of Bryar. Thaymor turned to his brother and saw that he was no longer screaming Bryar was looking like he had finally found peace, Thaymor even caught a glimpse of happiness in his brother's dead eyes just before they closed for ever.

It seemed like they had been walking for hours constantly turning one corner after another. King Randor had managed to find a long piece of wood that he could use as a weapon if they came across any of Count Marzo's minions. As the royal couple turned a corner they saw a large gate blocking the way. Randor instantly began searching for anything that wound allow them to get pass the gate. As Randor searched Queen Marlena heard the faint sounds of crying coming from one of the corridors they had passed, leaving Randor to his search Marlena slowly made her way down the corridor towards the sounds of crying.

Thaymor and He-man had been walking in silence, He-man suspected that Thaymor was silently mourning the death of his brother. He-man decided to respect Thaymor's silence. As the two warriors reached the end of the corridor they came upon a fork in the corridor.

"You've been this way before," said He-man turning to Thaymor. "Which way did you go?"

Thaymor looked at both corridors as if remembering what he had come across before.

"I chose the west corridor," said Thaymor pointing down a barely lit corridor. "I chose that one because if anyone was waiting down there I would be able to use the darkness to cover my movements."

"A wise choice," said He-man. "What did you come across?"

"Nothing much," said Thaymor. "It wasn't until I got through the darkness that I ran in to trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" asked He-man.

"I ran in to the Orcs that captured Me." replied Thaymor.

He-man studied each of the corridors weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, while the east corridor was brightly lit what lay down it was an unknown, the west corridor on the other hand was the one Thaymor had already been down so he knew the dangers but those dangers had ultimately led to Thaymor being captured and ending up in the room where He-man had found him under attack from rats.

"We'll take the west corridor." said He-man.

As the two warriors began to make their way towards the west corridor a terrible scream echoed from the east corridor. He-man span around as he heard the whistle of an arrow flying through the air, with lightning like speed his hand shot out and snatched the arrow out of the air just inches from Thaymor's face.

Twenty Orcs came screaming from the second corridor their weapons ready to strike down the two warriors. He-man quickly brought his sword up to defend himself from the Orcs attack. Thaymor did exactly the same, soon the stone corridor's soon rang with the sound of battle.

Queen Marlena followed the sounds of crying to a large wooden door. Set in the middle of the door was a small hatch. Slowly Marlena reached out and opened the hatch. Sat on a rotten bed in the corner of the room was a small child, tears were streaming down her face as her bright blue eyes stared at something in front of her. Marlena moved her head slightly and saw what was frightening the child. Three goblin children were sat on the dirt covered floor, each held a small dagger in its hand and they were poking them in to the dead body of a woman. Marlena guessed that was the child's mother.

Marlena tried the door but it was firmly locked turning she called out to King Randor. Hearing his wife call his name Randor stopped in his search for a way to open the gate and came racing to Marlena.

"What is wrong?" asked Randor. "What have you found?"

"Look in there," said Marlena pointing to the hatch. Randor instantly did as Marlena requested and saw what she had seen. "We have to rescue that little girl."

Randor quickly searched for a large rock with which he could smash the lock of the door. Marlena watched helpless as the Goblin children gave up on their poking of the mother's corpse and turned to the crying girl. Marlena called out trying to distract the Goblins from the girl. One turned to the door and seeing Marlena's face hissed and spat at the door before joining the advance on the crying child. Marlena bent down and snatched a handful of stones from the ground and then threw them at the Goblins. Her aim was off due to the hatch being small and most of the stones missed their intended targets, however a few did manage to strike the Goblins distracting them as they bounced off their long warty pointed ears.

"Marlena stand back!" called out Randor as he carried a large rock towards the door.

Marlena stepped back as Randor lifted the rock over his head and brought it crashing down on the door's lock. The lock shattered and the door swung open. Marlena raced in to the room past the stunned Goblins and snatched the child from the bed, Randor quickly followed and tipped the bed over as the Goblins threw their small daggers at Marlena. The daggers thudded in to the bed, Randor lifted the bed off the ground and pushed it in to the Goblins. The Goblins hissed in anger as Randor slammed the bed and the Goblins in to the corner of the room, once he was sure that the Goblins were trapped behind the bed he quickly raced out of the room and slammed the door shut.

"Strong little creatures," said Randor. "We had better get going before they find a way to escape."

The stone walls rang with the sounds of metal striking metal. He-man and Thaymor were covered in blood, thankfully very little belonged to the two valiant warriors. He-man brought his sword up to block a blow from an Orc's mace. The mace shattered against the sword and the Orc stared in amazement. He-man's arm shot out and grabbed the Orc by its leather armour, the Orc let out a yelp of surprise as He-man yanked it off the ground and threw it in to a crowd of Orc's. The Orcs crashed to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Before the Orcs could recover He-man swung his sword up and a bolt of magical energy raced along the blade and struck the rocky roof of the corridor.  A pile of rocks fell from the roof and buried the Orcs.

He-man turned to see Thaymor battling valiantly against the last seven Orcs. Thaymor was holding back the attacks when He-man spotted one of the smaller Orcs pull a crossbow from its armour and aim it towards Thaymor's back. Quickly racing towards the Orc He-man leaped through the air. The Orc shot the bolt from the crossbow just as He-man flew through the air, the bolt struck He-man in the shoulder and he crashed to the ground. The Orc dropped its crossbow and reached for its short sword. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder He-man kicked out at the Orc. He-man struck the Orc in the chest, the impact sent the Orc flying through the air and crashing in to the wall. Getting to his feet He-man grabbed the nearest Orc and knocked it out with a punch. Thaymor had killed three Orcs and now there was only two left. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his left shoulder He-man grabbed one of the Orcs off Thaymor and threw it across the corridor. Thaymor swung his sword up to block a strike from the final Orc, the Orc snarled as it tried to force Thaymor up against the wall. Thaymor stuck his foot out and the Orc tripped and knocked itself out against the stone wall, once he was sure that the Orc wasn't getting up he turned to see He-man battling with the last Orc.

The Orc had pushed itself off the wall and snarled at He-man and charged. He-man stood his ground as the Orc raced towards him, waiting until the Orc was close enough He-man dropped to his back and lifted his legs in to the air, catching the Orc on his feet He-man lifted the Orc off the ground and threw it through the air. He-man quickly leaped to his feet and suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. Thaymor saw He-man stagger slightly and then saw the Orc get to its feet and grab a weapon of its fallen comrades. The Orc read itself to throw the weapon at the defenceless He-man when Thaymor raised his sword and threw it at the Orc. The Orc let out a scream as the sword thudded in to its back. The Orc dropped the weapon as it fell to its knees and then with a last gasp of breath the Orc fell face down on to the ground. 

Thaymor then raced over to He-man. Sweat was pouring down He-man's head as he struggled to stay on his feet. He-man took as step forward and stumbled and almost fell when Thaymor caught him.

"What's wrong?" asked Thaymor as he helped steady He-man.

"I-I-I'm not sure," said He-man weakly. He then reached up to the bolt sticking out of his left shoulder. "Help me pull this out."

Thaymor was hesitant for a movement and then reached out and grabbed hold of the bolt. He-man braced himself against the pain as Thaymor pulled as hard as he could and tore the bolt from He-man's shoulder.

"Now hand it to me," said He-man once he got his breath back. Thaymor handed the bloody bolt to He-man. He-man examined the bolts pointed head in his shaking hand before turning to Thaymor. "This bolt is covered in poison."

"What are you going to do?" asked Thaymor.

He-man pointed to his sword that he had dropped.

"The Sword of Power had the ability to combat this poison and heal Me." said He-man.

Thaymor bent down and picked up the sword, he was about to hand it to He-man when the sound of more Orcs echoed down the second corridor.

"I think this will have to wait." said Thaymor as he grabbed hold of He-man and helped him in to the first corridor.

King Randor, Queen Marlena and the little girl who they had rescued from Goblin children quickly returned to the gate. Randor continued his search for a way past the gate as Marlena sat the girl down.

"Are you alright? Have you been hurt?" asked Marlena as she moved some hair from the girl's face.

The girl looked up with her bright blue eyes, Marlena could see that the girl's eyes were full of tears. The girl then slowly shook her head.

"Do you have a name?" asked Marlena. "Can you speak?"

The girl nodded her head. Marlena waited patiently for the girl to speak.

"M-M-My name is Rachel," said the girl in a voice so soft that Marlena almost couldn't hear. Rachel then glanced back towards the room she had been trapped in then she turned back to Marlena. "My mom isn't coming with us is she?"

Marlena looked in to Rachel's eyes and shook her head.

"I'm afraid she isn't." said Marlena sadly.

Rachel looked like she was about to cry when she glanced from Marlena to Randor over by the gate.

"Are you here to rescue me?" asked Rachel hopefully.

Randor stopped in his search and turned to Rachel.

"Yes we are little one." Randor turned back to the gate and pressed his hand on what looked like it was a loose stone.

The stone began to move, Randor began to push the stone harder and it slowly sank in to the wall. Suddenly there was a sound of a click and the ground began to rumble as the gate began to lift in to the roof of the corridor.

"I don't think we should wait around too long." said Randor once the gate had fully disappeared in to the roof of the corridor.

Queen Marlena turned to Rachel.

"Its time to go home little one." said Marlena extending her hand to the little girl.

The girl quickly grabbed Marlena's hand and the two raced through the gate with Randor guarding them from behind.

Thaymor was struggling as he carried both his sword and the Sword of Power in one hand while he tried to help the weakened He-man over the rocky ground of the corridor they had been chased down by Orcs. Despite wanting to stop and catch his breath the grunting and snarls of the Orcs following them urged him on. Thaymor spared a second to glance over at He-man. The champion of Eternia was pale and sweat was constantly pouring down his face. The poison was racing through his body, Thaymor didn't know much longer He-man would last but the one thing he did know was that he wasn't going to allow He-man to die in the cursed maze of Count Marzo. Suddenly Thaymor's foot slipped on one of the many stones that littered the ground. Both Thaymor and He-man came crashing to the ground.

Instantly the sound of the Orcs got closer and closer. Thaymor knew that they would soon overwhelmed with the vile beasts. Thaymor raced over to He-man and quickly helped him to his feet and then snatched up the two swords that had fallen to the ground. Glancing over his shoulder Thaymor made sure that the Orcs weren't close enough to capture them until they made it to the end of the corridor where there was an underground forest that they could hide in.

As Thaymor carried He-man around the corner he caught a glimpse of the trees that made up the underground forest. With a sudden surge of hope Thaymor pushed on towards the forest. As Thaymor and He-man neared the edge of the forest he was struck from behind. Once again both He-man and Thaymor crashed to the ground. Thaymor threw off the heavy weight that was on his back and saw that it was a Orc tracker that had attacked them. Thaymor quickly reached out for the swords that had fallen to the ground. Through blurred eyes He-man watched helplessly as Thaymor grabbed the Sword of Power.

"N-No you can't use the Sword of Power in battle." He-man tried to call out.

Knowing that the Sword of Power could only used in battle by himself He-man tried to get up but the pointed had left him too weakened to stand up.

Thaymor readied himself as the Orc leaped up and pulled two deadly daggers from his belt and prepared to charge in to combat. Thaymor lifted the Sword of Power ready to deflect the Orc's blow when the sword began to grow hot in his hands. The Orc swung its daggers down towards Thaymor and Thaymor swung the Sword of Power upwards. The three blades rang through the corridor as the struck each other, suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and both Thaymor and the Orc were thrown through the air. As Thaymor crashed to the ground the Sword of Power continued to grow so hot that Thaymor was forced to drop the sword.

The Orc pushed itself off the ground and desperately searched for the daggers that it had dropped. Thaymor saw one of the daggers seconds before the Orc did. Quickly Thaymor scrambled to his feet and leaped towards the dagger. The Orc saw the dagger as well and leaped for it. Both warriors grabbed hold of the dagger at the same time. The two struggled over the dagger and tripped on a rock. The Orc let out a startled yelp as it hit the ground and the dagger plunged in to its chest.

Panting Thaymor rolled off the dead Orc and slowly got to his feet. Turning Thaymor saw He-man slowly crawling towards the Sword of Power. Thaymor quickly raced over to the sword and picked it up He was surprised that the sword was now cool to the touch. Thaymor handed the sword over to He-man who sat back almost too weak to hold the sword. Slowly He-man lifted the sword in to the air.

"By the power...." said He-man his voice getting with each word."........OF GRAYSKULL!!!!!" The Sword of Power erupted with the magic of Grayskull. He-man was lifted of the ground and engulfed in the magical power that poured from the sword's blade. The light became so bright that Thaymor was forced to cover his eyes. Suddenly He-man's voice echoed out of the light. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!"

The magic of Grayskull quickly vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Thaymor slowly uncovered his eyes and looked over towards He-man.

The champion of Eternia was once again healthy the poison that was racing through his body was now completely destroyed by the magic of Grayskull.

To Be Continued……………………….


	2. Deathtrap Dungeon Continued

**_The Deathtrap Dungeon: Continued_**

Thaymor stared at He-man in amazement.

"I think we had better get going." said He-man as the sound of more Orcs were getting closer.

"You're right," said Thaymor. "But we need to slow them down."

"I'll take care of that," replied He-man. "You get in to that forest. I'll be along shortly."

As Thaymor headed towards the forest He-man held up the Sword of Power once again.

"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!!" called out He-man.

Once again the Sword of Power erupted with the magic of Grayskull. The magical energy washed over He-man and began to transform him turning him in to Thunder Punch He-man. Once the transformation was complete He-man walked over to the wall of the corridor. Allowing his incredible power to flow through his arms in to his fists He-man delivered a incredible punch in to the stone wall of the corridor. The wall began to crack and crumble. He-man delivered another thunderous punch to the wall. Large chunks of the wall began to fall and shattered on the ground. As the wall continued to fall apart He-man ran for the forest.

Orcs came charging around the corner and crashed in to the falling debris of the wall as it collapsed. The Orcs tried to get out of the way of the falling rocks but were crushed as they tried to escape.

As He-man quietly entered the underground forest and searched for Thaymor he held the Sword of Power across his chest and said

"Let the power return." The sword began to glow and the his Thunder Punch power flowed from his body and back in to the sword. He eventually found the warrior hidden among a large covering of leaves and branches.

"Have you seen anything yet?" whispered He-man knowing that this was the area where Thaymor was first captured by the Orcs and locked in the room which he had found him.

"Thankfully not yet," Thaymor replied. "But this forest contains other dangers besides Orcs." Thaymor then glanced at the Sword of Power, studying it as if it was one of those dangers. "I know that your sword is magical and gives you the power that only people can dream of. But why did it burn me when I tried to fight the Orcs?"

"The Sword of Power is protected by powerful magic," explained He-man. "Only I am allowed to wield it in combat. That way if it ever falls in to the clutches of evil it can not be used against anyone without that person being harmed."

Thaymor nodded his understanding and was about to say something when he was interrupted by something moving the leaves.

Both He-man and Thaymor carefully peered out from their hiding place. Standing nearby was a tall dinosaur-like creature. To He-man it looked like a Raptor that he had seen in history books about Preternia. The only difference was its head, two long sharp hog-like tusks extended from its mouth, on top of its head was an even deadlier horn that looked like it could easily run through a man. The Raptor-beast was sniffing the ground and He-man suspected that it was tracking something.

"We'll have to wait until it goes." whispered He-man.

"And how long will that be?" asked Thaymor.

"Unknown." He-man simply replied.

The trio of King Randor, Queen Marlena and Rachel had made it through the gate and down several corridors without any trouble from the creatures that dwelled in Count Marzo's maze. As they turned one corner the corridor opened up in to a wide area. To Randor it reminded him of the arenas that kings of Eternia's past used to train and show off their gladiators. The sight of it sent chills down his spine, he was glad that they were outlawed before he had become king. As the trio walked deeper in to the arena they could see rows up on rows of ancient seats reaching as far back as the eye could see.

"I wonder just who the king was that had this built." Randor said to himself.

"I pray we never find out." said Marlena as she found a place for Rachel to sit and rest.

Randor began to wander around the edge of the arena, apart from the way they had came in there was seven entrances. Randor decided to make sure that there wasn't any surprises waiting to rush out to attack them. Holding his makeshift battle staff ready to defend himself Randor made his way over to nearest entrance. The entrance way was decorated with carvings that had faded of the years. King Randor looked closer at the carvings to get a better look at them. Brushing some dust from one of the carvings Randor was startled by what he saw. Towering above the other carvings was the image of a figure whose body was made up of five deadly spitting snakes. Randor instantly recognized the figure as King Hiss the leader of the Snakemen and in the time of Preternia the ruler of the entire planet.

"It figures that someone like him would have something like this built." said Randor as he walked back to where Marlena and Rachel waited.

"Who built what?" asked Marlena as she was helping Rachel get some rest.

Randor explained his discovery and the connection between Count Marzo's maze and the ruler of the Snakemen.

"Do you think Marzo and Hiss are working together?" asked Marlena once Rachel was finally asleep.

"I doubt it," replied Randor shaking his head. "Marzo likes to use people he can control in his schemes. King Hiss isn't as easily controlled and no doubt wouldn't take orders from someone like Marzo." Randor then looked down at the sleeping Rachel. "I think the little one has the right idea. We've been walking this maze for what seems like hours its time we had a little rest."

"I agree," replied Marlena. "Though it feels more like we have been in this dreaded place for days rather than hours."

Randor had to smile a Marlena's comment. Without any view of the outside world there was no telling just how long they had been in Marzo's maze.

"I'll go and make sure that we won't be disturbed while we rest." said Randor as he turned and headed towards the entrances once more.

The Raptor-beast constantly searching for any scent of its prey. Thaymor was getting restless with the waiting and He-man couldn't blame him as he felt the same way as well.

"Do you have a way to get past that thing?" said Thaymor nodding his head towards the Raptor-beast.

"I think I do," replied He-man. "But it requires one of us to attract its attention."

"I think I know what your plan is," replied Thaymor. "My only question is who gets to be that things target for it to attack."

"I'll go out," said He-man without a movement's hesitation. "While I'm keeping it busy you find a way of trapping it without harming it."

Thaymor nodded his understanding and He-man quickly rose out of thier hiding place.

As soon as the Raptor-beast heard the sound of movement from the trees and leaves its head snapped up and its sharp eyes began scanning the area. As He-man burst from his hiding place the Raptor-beast was ready for the attack. 

The instant He-man leaped from their hiding place Thaymor jumped to his feet and ran towards a tree covered in long thick vines that he could use to trap the Raptor-beast. As Thaymor neared the tree he heard a growling sound coming from the leaves. Thaymor span around just in time to see a second Raptor-beast leap from out of nowhere ready to attack.

The Raptor-beast let out a low rattling roar as it lowered its head. It then charged towards He-man its powerful legs propelling it along the ground ready to drive its deadly horns and tusks in to He-man's body. He-man barely had time to think as the Raptor-beast bared down on him. Using his powerful legs He-man leaped off the ground on over the Raptor-beast. The Raptor-beast missed He-man by inches. As it tried to turn to follow its prey it slipped on the loose ground and crashed on to the ground. He-man landed on his feet and span around just in time to see the Raptor-beast push itself off the ground ready for another attack.

Thaymor barely missed being impaled on the Raptor-beast's tusks. The Raptor-beast snarled as Thaymor quickly backed away. Thaymor was reaching for his sword when the Raptor-beast suddenly leaped towards him. The Raptor-beast landed on Thaymor pinning him to the ground. Thaymor struggled but the Raptor-beast was to heavy to throw off.

Unaware of the situation Thaymor was in He-man prepared for another attack from the Raptor-beast. Pressing a button on his left wrist guard a techno shield flashed in to existence. The shield wasn't as strong as his shield from Grayskull but being designed by Man-At-Arms it was strong enough to repel the attack of the Raptor-beast. The Raptor-beast let out another piercing cry before once again lowering its head and charging. He-man stood his ground as the Raptor-beast was rapidly getting closer. The Raptor-beast roared again and He-man swung up his shield. The Raptor-beast spotted the shield but it was moving too fast to stop. The Raptor-beast's clawed feet skidded and stumbled along the ground and it's head crashed in to He-man's shield. He-man braced himself against the impact of the Raptor-beast colliding with his shield. He-man heard the sound of something snapping and guessed that it must have been either it's horn or one of it's long tusks. Next came the thud of the Raptor-beast's body hitting the ground.

Thaymor continued to strain against the incredible weight of the Raptor-beast that had him pinned down all the time avoiding being impaled by either the Raptor-beast's tusks or it's deadly horn plus there was the rows of razor sharp teeth that were getting dangerously close. Out of the corner of his eye Thaymor caught a glimpse of his sword which he had dropped when the Raptor-beast attacked. Carefully Thaymor removed one of his hands from the neck of the Raptor-beast and reached out towards his sword. The Raptor-beast seemed to sense what Thaymor was attempting and dug it's razor sharp claws deeper in to Thaymor's shoulders. Thaymor ignored the shooting pain that raced through his shoulders and continued to edge closer to his sword. Thaymor's fingertips brushed against the hilt of the sword. The Raptor-beast saw that Thaymor had almost had the sword in his hand and leaped in to the air. As soon as the weight was off his chest Thaymor snatched the sword off the ground and swung it in to the air just as the Raptor-beast came down. The sword flashed through the air and sliced through the Raptor-beast's thick neck. Crimson coloured blood shot out from the wound and splashed down on Thaymor. The Raptor-beast spasmed as it fell and Thaymor saw that it's head had angled forward and the tusks were aimed directly for his head. Thaymor quickly scrambled out of the way and the body of the Raptor-beast crashed to the ground.

He-man looked up from the unconscious Raptor-beast when he heard the sound of a struggle near the hiding place he had left Thaymor in. Drawing the Sword of Power He-man prepared himself to face whatever was behind the thick leaves and vines. The foliage slowly parted and He-man saw a blood covered Thaymor step up to him.

"You wanted some of this?" asked Thaymor as he held up a handful of strong looking vines.

"What happened to you?" asked He-man figuring that the blood that covered Thaymor couldn't belong to the warrior.

"Our friend here had a surprise waiting for us," said Thaymor hanging the vines to He-man. "There was a second beast waiting in the coverage. It looks like they were setting up an ambush."

"They must be smarter than they look," said He-man as he bound the Raptor-beast in the thick vines that Thaymor had passed to him. "Let's hope their isn't to many more hanging around."

"I agree." said Thaymor.

Suddenly the air was filled with the angry sounds of a mob heading towards them.

"Orc's." said Thaymor guessing just what was making the noise.

"I knew my barricade wouldn't last too long. But I thought it would have slowed anybody following us long enough for us to get father away." said He-man looking in the direction of the on coming mob. "Let's get going before they catch up."

"Good idea." replied Thaymor and turned and saw that another mob of Orc's had used the distraction to sneak up on He-man and himself.

He-man saw that several of the Orcs had Raptor-beasts with them. The beasts were straining against their leashes.

"What do we do now?" asked Thaymor.

"That I do not know." replied He-man as the Orcs began to advance on them.

Randor couldn't rest. Even though he had made sure that there was no way that someone could sneak up on them he still kept himself alert and wide awake. Randor glanced over to the sleeping Marlena and Rachel. Randor wondered is the little girl had any family waiting outside Marzo's maze and if she was now alone weather he shoulder look in to possibly fostering her until a family could be found to adopt her. Randor sighed to himself Marlena would probably say he would be trying to make up the time he had missed with his own daughter Adora when she was kidnapped by Hordak. Randor got up and decided that he should check the entrances once more. As he walked across the arena floor there was a sudden sound high in the shadows. Randor instantly span around to where the sound had come from and scanned the shadows with his eyes. Suddenly another sound echoed across the arena. Randor span to face the other side of the arena. Again he couldn't see anything in the darkness. Three more sounds sounded each one in a different direction from the others. Randor scooped up a stone from the ground and as soon as he heard another sound he launched the stone in to the darkness. Randor heard a small cry in the dark and a small rodent leaped from the darkness and down the step like seats of the arena. Randor's heart was pounding as the rodent scuttled past and in to another patch of darkness. Smiling at his jumpiness Randor turned around and ran straight in to a huge humanoid creature. As Randor backed away he saw that the creature he had bumped in to was a giant rat-like creature with razor sharp teeth. The Rat-man hissed at Randor as he held up his fighting staff to defend himself from attack. The Rat-man backed away its tiny eyes stared at Randor and then suddenly darted to the sleeping Marlena and Rachel.

"You stay away from them!!" snarled Randor. He then swung his staff as hard as he could.

The staff cracked the Rat-man across the head and it crashed to the ground. The Rat-man looked up and hissed at Randor. Randor readied to strike the Rat-man again when he heard the sound of thousand of tiny feet scuttling along the ground. Randor turned his head and saw thousand upon thousand of rats scurring from the shadows towards him.

Marlena slowly opened her eyes, for some reason her dreams were filled with the sounds of squeaks. Then she saw them and realizes that the squeaking sounds she had been dreaming of were really thousands of rats surrounding her husband King Randor. Keeping as quiet as she could Marlena turned her head towards Rachel. Thankfully the little girl was still fast asleep. Marlena turned her head back towards Randor, the rats were inching ever closer. Just behind the swarm of rats Marlena spotted a tall rat-like creature its tiny eyes darted from Randor to the rats and back again. Marlena could see the long thin whiskers that came out of its long rat-like nose twitch as if they were somehow alive. _'Could that thing be controlling the rats?'  _thought Marlena as she silently watched the rats getting closer to Randor, she had to come up with something that would distract the Rat-man and hopefully break its control over the rats. Randor swung his staff as hard as he could however for every rat he swatted away several more took its place. On the other side of the swarm of rats was the Rat-man. Its tiny eyes stared straight at Randor giving him a creeping feeling that ran down his spine. Randor ignored the Rat-man and turned his attention back towards the rats constantly swarming at him. As the Rat-man concentrated on Randor, Marlena slowly and quietly crept up behind the creature. Marlena raised her hands above her head and readied to strike the Rat-man as hard as she could. Suddenly the Rat-man's tiny tail twitched as if sensing that Marlena was there and what she was about to do. The Rat-man's head snapped around and hissed at her showing its razor sharp teeth. 

Both He-man and Thaymor were chained up by the Orcs. The leader of the Orcs stepped forward. He-man looked up to see that the Orc was carrying a short axe in one hand and the Sword of Power in the other. It black eyes stared down at He-man through its stringy black hair.

"You are a great warrior," growled the Orc holding up the Sword of Power to examine it. "This is a fine weapon. How does it feel in battle?"

"You should try it?" said Thaymor trying to trick the Orc in to using the sword.

The Orc turned to Thaymor and stared down at him disgust.

"You are the one we captured before," snarled the Orc. "What would you know of a weapon of this kind?"

Before Thaymor could reply the Orc turned back to He-man.

"How does this weapon feel in combat?" the Orc asked again.

He-man refused to give the Orc an answer. The Orc stared at He-man for a few seconds before letting out a growling sound that barely resembled a sigh.

"We shall find out soon enough," said the Orc. "We will take the both you to the arena  where you'll both fight to the death."

The Orc then turned and He-man and Thaymor were pulled to their feet and dragged from the forest.

Marlena leaped out of the way as the Rat-man slashed at her with its claws. Marlena began to think back to the combat training she had received on Earth before she began the mission that led to her arrival on Eternia. The Rat-man hissed and leaped towards Marlena, Marlena span around on her left leg and struck the Rat-man across the jaw with a powerful kick from her right foot. The Rat-man staggered backwards from the blow. As the Rat-man fell Marlena noticed that some of the rats that were attacking Randor had begun to break away from the swarm and ran back in to the shadows. The Rat-man quickly jumped to its and leaped at Marlena. Marlena jumped in to the air and kicked out with her feet and struck the Rat-man once more in the face, however this time it lashed out with its claws and grabbed her legs. Unable to control her landing Marlena crashed to the ground. Randor saw Marlena hit the ground and the Rat-man pin her to the ground. Randor continued to swipe at the rats with his staff as he tried to make his way over to help his wife. Marlena struggled under the weight of the Rat-man, its snarling mouth with its sharp teeth getting dangerously close to her face. Marlena managed to free one of her arms from under the Rat-man and swung her fist as hard as she could. The blow connected with the Rat-man's jaw. The Rat-man was stunned by the punch but refused to move instead it raised on of its clawed hands and readied to drive it in to Marlena's face. Suddenly the Rat-man let out a horrible scream. Marlena looked up to see that Randor had driven his staff in to the back of the Rat-man. The Rat-man's body jerked and fell off Marlena. Randor then helped Marlena up and the pair looked down on the Rat-man. With the Rat-man dead the rats ran back in to the darkness.

"How did that thing get in here?" asked Marlena.

"I'm not sure," replied Randor. "It must have been hiding in the shadows all this time."

Rachel slowly opened her eyes after her sleep. At first she had forgotten where she was, then it all came flooding back. Rachel quickly searched her surroundings for the two people who had rescued her from her prison. She was about to panic when she spotted both Randor and Marlena in an embrace in the middle of the arena. Then she spotted some movement in the darkness behind the couple. As she concentrated on the movement she saw that it was a group of Orcs that were making their way towards them. At the head of the group Rachel bound in chains being pushed in to the arena were two men, one of those men was her brother.

"THAYMOR!!!" Rachel called out uncontrollably and leaped to her feet.

Randor and Marlena turned startled by Rachel's cry and saw that with the Orcs was He-man along with another man that must have been the one Rachel had called Thaymor.

Quickly Randor readied his staff for battle and Marlena grabbed hold of Rachel as the little girl started running towards her brother. The lead Orc pushed past He-man and Thaymor and walked in to the arena.

"Well well what a pleasant surprise," said the Orc. "It seems that we have more fighters for us to fight."

The other Orcs laughed at their leaders comment. The lead Orc then looked down at the dead Rat-man.

"I'm impressed," said the Orc nudging the dead body. "You've managed to kill a Verman. Those things are a pest around here, the less the better."

Again the other Orcs laughed.

"Anyway we are not here to talk about Vermen dead or alive," said the Orc bringing the subjet back to why they were there. "We're here to see how well these warriors fare against us."

The Orc then held up both the Sword of Power and the sword that was taken from Thaymor. The other Orcs unchained He-man and Thaymor and pushed them towards Randor, Marlena and Rachel. The Orc was about to hand He-man and Thaymor their swords when the air above the arena rippled and began to heat up. Suddenly the darkness burst in to flames and a fireball flew from the flames and landed between He-man and the Orc. The fireball then transformed in to the figure of Count Marzo.

"Well done," said Marzo as he turned to He-man and the royal couple and began a slow mocking clap. "I must honestly say I didn't think that either of you would have made it this far," Marzo then turned to Thaymor and Rachel. "And you have even managed to find two lost souls as well."

Thaymor snarled and leaped at Marzo. He-man quickly grabbed hold of Thaymor. The Orc turned to Marzo.

"And who are you?" snapped the Orc as it grabbed the front of Marzo's shirt. "And why are you here? Or do you want to test your battle skills against my men?"

Marzo stared calmly at the Orc.

"I suggest that you get your filthy hands off me." said Marzo.

The Orc laughed in Marzo's face.

"And just what are you going to do little man?" said the Orc.

Suddenly the Orc's eyes grew wide in terror as a sudden heat began moving up from its feet to the top of its head. The Orc barely had time to let out a scream as flames engulfed its body. Then just for a fraction of a second where the Orc once stood was a perfect statue of the Orc made out of ash. The ash statue then began to crumble and fall apart until it was nothing mo than a pile of ash dust on the ground. Seeing that their leader had been killed by Count Marzo the other Orcs lifted their weapons and charged at Marzo. Marzo calmly stood his ground and waved a hand in the air. The air around the Orcs began to grow solid until it formed an unbreakable bubble around the Orcs. The bubble then began to move dragging the Orcs back in to the entrance they came flooding out of. Once the Orcs had been pulled through the entrance Count Marzo waved his hand again and the entrance began to seal up with debris.

He-man noticed that all but two of the other entrances had been sealed as well. He-man then turned back to Marzo who had knelt down to pick up the two swords.

"Its not like you to get your hands dirty," said He-man pointing to the ashes that were once the Orc. "You usually have your bodyguard do this kind of thing. Where is Chimera by the way?"

Marzo smiled at He-man and handed him the Sword of Power.

"You are right," said Marzo. "As a nobleman I wouldn't normally stoop low enough to do this kind of thing. However if I had not fried our friend here," Marzo kicked the ash with the toe of his boot. "Then the games I have in store for you would be useless. As for Chimera. He is overseeing the preparations for my taking the throne of Eternos from that cowardly Prince Adam. If he ever comes out of hiding." 

"There are plenty of warriors to stand in your way," said Randor. "So you'll be no closer to the throne than you were before you brought us down in to this hell hole."

"That is something that we will see," replied Marzo. "But you should really be concerned about what waits for you."

"And just what is that?" asked He-man.

"As you can see. I have closed off all but two entrances to this arena," explained Marzo. "As usual one leads to danger and the other safely leads you closer to the exit of my maze. However I shall not spoil your fun by telling you which one is which."

Marzo then waved his hands and vanished in a ball of flames. As He-man turned to the others Marzo's voice echoed from the darkness.

_"I suggest that you make your minds up quickly." _said Marzo's voice. _"Because I have freed a particularly nasty creature and its heading your way."___

The five people looked at each over wondering what Marzo's threat had meant when they felt the ground begin to tremble and one of the entrances that Marzo had blocked began to shake and fall apart. Suddenly a huge purple head smashed its way through the entrance. The head was then followed by a long thick neck covered in long spines, then its huge winged body smashed the rest of the way through the entrance and in to the arena.

"That's a dragon." said Randor.

"That's no ordinary dragon," said He-man as the beast's head began to shake, suddenly the head and neck of the beast pulled apart and separated in to two identical and deadly looking heads. "It's a Hydra-Dragon."

The Hydra-Dragon's heads turned to face its prey. The first head opened its huge mouth and a ball of fire shot out. He-man, Thaymor, Randor, Marlena and Rachel leaped out of the way as the fireball struck the ground where they were standing. The second head turned and readied itself to launch an attack of its own. 

"Get out of here!!" called out He-man as the second head of the Hydra-Beast shot out a stream of fire. He-man leaped through the air and drew his Sword of Power and used it to deflect the flames.

Randor scooped up Rachel and carried her to the nearest entrance, Marlena quickly followed but Thaymor turned and drew his sword.

"You go to!" said He-man as Thaymor dodged a fireball from the Hydra-Dragon's first head.

"I'll stay here to help you." said Thaymor.

He-man blocked another stream of fire with his sword.

"No," said He-man. "I need you to go with the others. I need you to protect them and get them out of this maze."

"You are truly a brave warrior," said Thaymor. He then turned and headed after the others. As he reached the entrance he turned. "I will see you on the outside."

He-man didn't reply or turn as Thaymor dashed through the entrance. He-man turned and narrowly avoided being struck by one of the Hydra-Dragon's heads. The second head opened its mouth and a fireball shot out towards He-man. He-man quickly swung his sword up and deflected the fireball off the sword's blade. The fireball arched through the air and struck the first head of the Hydra-Dragon. The Hydra-Dragon let out a terrifying scream as the fireball scorched its face. The second head swung around and glared at He-man with pure fury in its eyes. As He-man readied for the strike from the first head he sensed the second head coming around for an attack. As both heads of the Hydra-Dragon attacked He-man dropped to his knees and the two heads narrowly missed each other. He-man then leaped up and with one blinding movement he swung the Sword of Power and it cut through the thick neck of the Hydra-Dragon's second head. The Hydra-Dragon's screamed as its head fell to the ground in a fountain of crimson colored blood. As He-man landed he readied to attack again but the Hydra-Dragon backed away. The severed stump of the Hydra-Dragon's neck began to quiver and shake, suddenly the neck split in to two halves, the tops of the necks then began to bulge outwards. Suddenly a head burst from the tops of the necks. He-man turned to see that the first head had also began to shake and split in half, now the Hydra-Dragon had four snarling and snapping heads ready to attack He-man.

Thaymor ran as fast as he could to catch up with King Randor, Queen Marlena and his sister Rachel. So far there hadn't been any sign of traps that could have somehow captured or injured the trio. As Thaymor reached a junction in the corridor he began to wonder which direction where they had gone. The corridor split in two directions, on to the east and the other to the west. As Thaymor began to decide which corridor the trio had gone down he spotted and arrow pointing west scratched in to the wall. Quickly Thaymor raced down the west corridor.

The corridor that Randor, Marlena and Rachel were slowly making their way through began to grow lighter.

"Do you smell that?" asked Randor.

Both Marlena and Rachel sniffed the air.

"The air smells fresher here," replied Marlena. "That must mean that there's a way out somewhere around here."

Their hearts racing with hope surged onwards. However as they raced for the exit a shadowy figure began to move behind them.

As Thaymor ran through the west corridor it began to widen in to a large cavern. Thaymor stopped as quickly as he could as he saw that one of the cavern's walls was made of a clear crystal. On the other side of the crystal wall Thaymor saw King Randor, Queen Marlena and his sister Rachel. Thaymor quickly raced over to the wall. Thaymor pounded on the wall with his fist trying to get the attention of the trio, however the wall was too thick for the sound to get through and the trio continued walking down the corridor. As Thaymor was just about to turn and search for a way to catch up with his sister and the king and queen when he caught sight of something moving in the shadows behind them.  Spurred on by fear Thaymor turned and ran as fast as he could.

The arena was engulfed in flames as He-man dodged the streams of fire and fireballs slung at him from each of the Hydra-Dragon's four heads. The attack was relentless and He-man was growing tired. He-man leaped in to the air as a fireball flew towards him. As soon as he landed He-man had to leap out of the way once more as one of the Hydra-Dragon's heads shot a stream of flames in his direction. When He-man landed again he ran as hard as he could until he was behind the Hydra-Dragon. The Hydra-Dragon whipped its tail at He-man. He-man ducked the tail and leaped on to the Hydra-Dragon's back. Each of the heads let out a snarl of fury and tried to whip around to attack He-man. However He-man was hidden behind the small wings of the Hydra-Dragon so the beast wouldn't dare attack without injuring itself. As the Hydra-Dragon tried to throw He-man off its back He-man carefully crawled up its back. Once  He-man was in between the Hydra-Dragon's shoulder blades he grabbed a handful of the scales that ran down the back of one of the Hydra-Dragon's necks. When he felt he had a firm enough grip He-man drew the Sword of Power and prepared to drive it in to the thick hide of the Hydra-Dragon. As if sensing He-man's intentions the Hydra-Dragon bucked wildly. He-man lost his grip on the Hydra-Dragon and was thrown off its back. He-man landed on the ground in front of the Hydra-Dragon with a heavy thud. He-man barely had time to move as the Hydra-Dragon drove one of its front claws down at him. As the claws smashed in to the ground He-man managed to roll under the Hydra-Dragon's massive belly. Quickly rolling to his knees and raised his sword once more. As the Hydra-Dragon tried to snap at He-man with each of its four heads He-man drove the Sword of Power in to the scaled belly of the Hydra-Dragon. The Hydra-Dragon let out a cry of pain from each of its four heads and crimson colored blood began to flow from the wound down the sword's blade and splashed on the ground. He-man tore the sword from the Hydra-Dragon's belly and leaped from under the beast as its legs gave way and it crashed to the ground.

He-man stood and watched as the Hydra-Dragon's heads twitched a couple of times before they remained still. He-man was about to turned to follow the others when the body of the Hydra-Dragon's body suddenly jerked. He-man span around to see the body of the Hydra-Dragon burst open ia shower of fireballs and flames. The tower of flames chased the darkness in the arena away and He-man could see writing carved in to the roof of the arena. He-man couldn't read the writing but recognized it as belonging to the Snakemen. Suddenly the tower of flames hit the roof and exploded. As the flames spread across the roof the writing began to glow a bright crimson. Then as if the stone of the roof was melting the entire roof split apart spilling out a river of lava. As the lava crashed to the ground there was a rumble and the arena began to fall apart. 

Thaymor's heart was thumping in his chest as he raced around the corner and caught a glimpse of King Randor, Queen Marlena and his sister Rachel. Increasing the speed of his run Thaymor was about to call out to the others when he was suddenly struck from the side and thrown to the ground.

Thaymor looked up to see what had hit him but could only see the rocky wall of the corridor. Thaymor attempted to get to his feet when the wall suddenly seemed to come to life and a fist knocked him down again. It was then that Thaymor realized that it wasn't the wall that had hit but something camouflaged in front of it. The creature quickly appeared and disappeared as it moved, Thaymor kept track of it as best as he could but the creature was moving to fast. Just then it leaped at him and Thaymor barely had enough time to avoid the blow.

'_At least,_' thought Thaymor carefully keeping an eye out for another attack. '_With this creature fighting me it's not going to attack the king and queen and most importantly my sister._'

Thaymor was hit in the shoulder as the creature leaped at him. It was the first time that Thaymor could get a clear look at the creature. It stood slightly over two meters, its skin was a slick shining black that made it hard to see even when it wasn't hiding in the background, its head was almost featureless with the exception of two tiny red eyes and a large circular mouth filled with row upon row of razor sharp teeth.

Thaymor leaped at the creature as it prepared to strike again. Both Thaymor and the creature crashed in to the wall. As they struggled to their feet a sudden tremor rocked the corridor. The creature's eyes grew wide with at first fear and when it turned to Thaymor the fear turned to fury as if it blamed Thaymor for the tremor. Thaymor scrambled to his feet just as the creature leaped. The creature's clawed hands grabbed hold of Thaymor by the legs and sent Thaymor crashing to the ground.__

As Thaymor hit the ground his head struck a rock. Dazed and bleeding from the wound on his head rolled out of the way as the creature tried to jump on him. Getting to his unsteady feet Thaymor raised his sword and tried to defend himself. The creature glared at the sword in Thaymor's shaking hand. The creature gave a snarl and swiped the sword out of Thaymor's hand. Distracted by the sword clattering to the ground Thaymor was left open to attack from the creature.

He-man ran as fast as he could, the lava and falling debris was inches behind him and rapidly getting closer. He-man raised the Sword of Power and with one quick swing sent a bolt of magical energy flying along the blade and towards the nearest wall. As soon as the bolt of energy struck the wall it exploded and fell in to the path of the lava. He-man knew that the blockade wouldn't hold back the lava for long so he ran even faster; soon he came to a bend in the corridor. As he raced around the corner He-man saw Thaymor being attacked by a tall black creature.

The creature leaped at Thaymor and sank its teeth in to Thaymor's shoulder. Thaymor let out a scream of pain as the creature's teeth tore at his flesh. Weakened by the blood loss from the wound on his head and now the blood pouring from his shoulder, Thaymor was growing too weak to fend off the attack from the creature. Pulling its head away from Thaymor's shoulder the creature bared its teeth once more and Thaymor could see his blood dripping off its teeth. The creature raised one of its large clawed hands and drove it towards Thaymor's face. Thaymor refused to take his eyes off the on coming fist, suddenly the fist stopped inches from Thaymor's face. Blinking in surprise Thaymor watched as the creature was then pulled away and thrown through the air. Looking up Thaymor saw that it was He-man who had rescued him.

The creature let out a snarl of anger and pain as it struck a nearby wall and crashed to the ground.

He-man ignored the creature as it disappeared and turned to help Thaymor back to his feet. The walls began to crumble as the lava forced its way through the barricade that held it back. Making sure Thaymor was secured on his back He-man began running down the corridor.

The corridor around King Randor, Queen Marlena and Rachel began to shake and the trio heard the sound of rumbling slowly growing louder.

"I think we should go faster." said Randor as he scooped up Rachel.

"I think you are right." replied Marlena as small cracks began to form in the walls of the corridor.

Without waiting any longer they ran down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them. As they rounded a corner they came face to face with the exit from Marzo's maze. Spurred on by the hope of freedom they ran faster, suddenly the walls began to shake violently and broke apart. Randor and Marlena narrowly stopped in time to avoid being crushed by the falling debris. As the dust cleared they saw that their way out was blocked by a wall of rocks.

"What are we to do now?" asked Marlena coughing through the dust.

"I'm not sure," replied Randor. "We can't go back," Randor looked back at the wall and saw a single beam of sunlight streaming through a gap in the top of the wall. "And we can't dig ourselves out, but maybe we could get Rachel through that gap."

"No I don't want to go," cried Rachel. "I want to stay with you."

"But you must," said Marlena as she knelt in front of Rachel. "You can get help." Marlena then reached up and wiped away the tears that were streaming down Rachel's cheeks.

As Rachel turned and was about to climb up the rock wall towards the gap He-man carrying Thaymor on his back came running around the corner.

"Thank the Elders," said Marlena as she saw He-man. "Can you help us dig through this wall?"  

"Digging may take too long," said He-man as the rumbling in the corridor grew more violent He then turned to Queen Marlena and answered her unasked question. "Either Count Marzo of the builders of this place booby-trapped it so that once the Hydra-Dragon was defeated, its death would bring this place crashing down."

"If it'll take too long to dig our way out what do you suggest?" asked Thaymor weakly as he pushed himself to his unsteady feet.

He-man didn't reply and drew his sword. Holding it high above his head He-man turned to the others.

"I suggest you all should find some cover." said He-man.

As the others quickly did as He-man had suggested he turned his attention back to the Sword of Power.

"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!!" cried He-man. The Sword of Power began to glow with the magical energy of Castle Grayskull. He-man then drove the Sword of Power in to the wall of rock until it was buried up to its hilt. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!"

Streams of light burst from the cracks in the wall. He-man drove the sword in deeper and the rocks around the sword began to dissolve until there was a circle of energy in the middle of the wall and freedom on the other side, He-man turned to the others.

"You had best hurry," said He-man as sweat began pouring down his face. "This won't stay open for long."

"You take Rachel," Randor said to Marlena. "I'll help Thaymor out."

As Marlena took Rachel by the hand and led her towards the way out Randor raced over to Thaymor. Throwing Thaymor's arm over his shoulder Randor carried Thaymor through the opening. Once he had saw that the others were safely outside Marzo's maze He-man started to pass through the shimmering magical energy that held the wall of rocks from crashing down. As soon as he stepped in to the opening he suddenly felt something grab him and yank him back. He-man span around to see that it was the creature that had attacked Thaymor. The creature bared its teeth reading itself to attack. He-man began to defend himself from the creature when the rocky roof of the corridor suddenly crumbled and came crashing down on their heads.

Once King Randor, Queen Marlena along with Thaymor and Rachel had gotten far enough away fron the collapsing maze they turned expecting to see He-man to be closely following them. But he was nowhere to be seen. Instead all they saw was the energy barrier that had been created by He-man's sword begin to flicker and then vanish. The instant the barrier was gone the rest of the rocks that once bared the way collapsed in to a cloud of dust. As the dust cloud was swept away by the gentle wind that was in the air they could see the surface above the maze had also fallen in on itself.

A sudden wave of dread washed over Queen Marlena, she didn't understand it but she felt like she had just seen her son perish. Shaking the foolish thought to one side she turned teary eyed towards King Randor. Randor still had hold of the injured Thaymor but his eyes were locked intently on the debris.

'_I wonder if he has the same feeling I've just had?_' thought Marlena as she tried to study Randor's expressionless features.

After a few seconds Randor turned.

"I shall personally make sure Marzo is brought to justice for this." vowed Randor as all hope of He-man surfacing from the ruins of Marzo's maze began to fade.

"You shall have my sword to aid you in your quest." said Thaymor.

"Thank you......" Randor began to say when he heard the sound of a rock falling and hitting the ground.

Slowly turning back to the debris Randor saw another rock fall followed by another, soon gaps began to appear between the rocks and a bright light shone through.

".............POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!!!!" He-man's voice rang out from under the rocks.

The light then exploded in a wave of energy so bright that Randor, Marlena, Thaymor and Rachel had to cover their eyes. Once the light had faded enough for the others to look again they saw He-man standing where the rocks had bared the way from the maze.

"How did you survive?" asked Thaymor. "What happened?" 

"As I was about to follow you out I was attacked by the creature that attacked you before," said He-man. "I was able to move the energy barrier from the entrance and over myself to protect me from the collapsing maze."

"We feared that you may have perished," said Marlena. "Without you Count Marzo may have succeeded in capturing the throne of Eternia."

"I've almost forgot about Marzo," said He-man. "We'll have to get in contact with Man-At-Arms and warn him about Marzo."

He-man then pressed a button on his wrist-guard and opened a communications link to Man-At-Arms to warn him about Count Marzo.


	3. Deathtrap Dungeon Concluded

**_The Deathtrap Dungeon: Concluded _**

****

Man-At-Arms was overseeing the finishing touches to the decorations for Teela's birthday gathering. It was Man-At-Arms duty to make sure that every thing ran as normally as possible but his mind wasn't really focused on the job as he was worried about He-man and the king and queen. It had been nearly a day since Count Marzo had kidnapped the king and queen and forced He-man in to going to his the ruins of Sardath to attempt a rescue.

As Man-At-Arms watched the workers putting the final touches to the decorations his wrist communicator buzzed for his attention. Pressing a button on the communicator Man-At-Arms opened a link to whoever was on the other end.

"Good news Duncan," said the voice of He-man. "I have managed to rescue the king and queen as well as two of Marzo's other victims."

"Thank the Sorceress," replied Man-At-Arms. "And what about Marzo?"

"There's no sign of him," said He-man. "However I believe he will be launching his attack soon."

"What makes you say that?" said Man-At-Arms.

"Marzo doesn't know that we've escaped his maze," said He-man. "So he believes that Prince Adam will be weak enough to attack and frorce the throne from. He'll have probably organized an army of some kind to attack the Royal Palace."

Man-At-Arms let out a reluctant sigh.

"That may be a problem," said Man-At-Arms. "As you know after you went after the king and queen I had the Heroic Warriors go out to make sure that neither Skeletor, Hordak nor King Hiss tries to take advantage of this situation. They wouldn't be able to get back in time to stop Marzo's army. The Royal Guards and city defenders could probably hold off Marzo's army but they will be no match for Marzo himself."

"I'm going to try and get back to the palace as fast as possible," said He-man. "But the Lazer Bolt carries only one; I'll need you to send someone to pick up the others."

"I'll send the Attack Track to pick them up," said Man-At-Arms. "Then I'll have the guards prepare for Marzo's attack."

Count Marzo stood in front of his army of mercenaries that he either paid, bribed or blackmailed in to joining him. Marzo knew that his army didn't care about his quest to take the throne of Eternia. Normally he wouldn't lower himself to work with this kind of warrior but the ends justified his actions. Marzo waited for the noise to die down before he addressed them.

"Now is the time," called out Marzo. "We will storm the royal palace and drag Prince Adam from his hiding place. Then I shall take the throne of Eternia and you all shall be greatly rewarded."

At the mention of a reward the army erupted in to loud cheers.

"Now onwards my warriors!!" called out Marzo. "Bring victory to me!!"

Marzo's army then raced and mounted their horses and battle wagons and began their march towards the city of Eternos.

The Battle Hawk soared though the sky.  Teela was amazed at the swiftness of the new machine. As the Battle Hawk carried Teela high above the Evergreen Forest she the city of Eternos getting closer. As the city grew closer Teela she spotted a large group of men exit the forest and head for the city's walls. As Teela took the Battle Hawk down for a closer look the gates to the city burst open and a large army of Royal Guards and City Defenders came rushing out to confront the oncoming army.

The two armies clashed in to each other. Each warrior's weapons striking each other. As Teela got closer to the battle she spotted a lone warrior standing just out of the way of the battle. Switching on the scanners of the Battle Hawk Teela saw that it was Count Marzo. Teela instantly brought the Battle Hawk down to land. Sure that she hadn't been spotted Teela leaped off the Battle Hawk and raced towards Count Marzo.

'_This is going exactly as I planned,_' thought Marzo as he watched the battle. '_With everyone distracted by the battle it shall be easy for me to break in to the Royal Palace and take the throne of Eternia for myself._'

Marzo was about to head for the palace when Teela suddenly leaped in to his path.

"You cannot stop me warrior woman," hissed Marzo as he drew his sword. "I will take the throne this time."

"Don't be so certain," said Teela as she grabbed her battle staff. "Not while I stand in the way."

Marzo raised his sword and Teela prepared to defend herself when she was suddenly struck from behind. As Teela hit the ground she rolled forward and leaped to her feet to face Chimera, Marzo's bodyguard guard. 

"Don't harm her too much," Marzo said to Chimera. "Every king needs a queen and I can't think of anyone finer that Teela."

Teela turned to Marzo.

"You are totally out of your mind if you think that will ever happen." snapped Teela.

"We shall see." laughed Marzo as he vanished in to a ball of flame.

As soon as Marzo disappeared Chimera leaped at Teela. Teela quickly blocked Chimera's first blow with her staff and kicked him in the chest, Chimera staggered backwards a few steps before charging at Teela again.

Marzo appeared from his ball of flame just inside the Royal Palace. With the guards distracted by the battle with his men the palace was quiet and he was able to make his way to the throne room without being stopped.

Chimera grasped Teela's arm as she swung her fist at his head. Chimera yanked and pulled Teela off her feet and threw her to the ground. As soon as Teela hit the ground Chimera drove his massive fists towards her head. Teela rolled out of the way and Chimera's fists hit nothing but dirt leaving two large dents in the ground. Chimera glared at Teela as he raised his fists again. Chimera threw a punch with his right fist, Teela ducked and Chimera lashed out with a kick; Teela rolled out of the way and scooped up a handful of dirt. Chimera span around and snarled, Chimera leaped at Teela. Teela threw the dirt she held and it hit Chimera in the face. Chimera staggered as he was blinded by the dirt. Teela quickly kicked Chimera in the stomach driving the air out of his lungs.

Marzo stood in front of the doors that led to the royal throne room.

'_At last,_' thought Marzo as excitement raced through him. '_After many long years my quest is almost over. I shall rule Eternia as it should be ruled._'

Marzo then placed his hands on the doors and pushed them open. As Marzo stepped in to the room Man-At-Arms stepped down from the royal thrones.

"That's far enough." said Man-At-Arms.

"Is that so?" said Marzo. "And who are you to tell the king of Eternia what to do?"

"You are not the king of anything," replied Man-At-Arms raising his battle mace. "And you shall never be."

"You shall be the first to kneel before me!" snarled Marzo as he threw a bolt of magic towards Man-At-Arms.

Man-At-Arms swung his mace up to deflect the blow, angered even more Marzo threw more bolts of magic at Man-At-Arms.

The battle between Man-At-Arms and Count Marzo was fast and furious as each combatant block or avoided each other's attack, but it wouldn't last for long. Count Marzo felt his energy beginning to fade as he used his magic to block Man-At-Arms's attack. Man-At-Arms was beginning to sweat; his armor was starting to over heat as it used up its power supplies in order to shield him from Marzo's magical onslaught. An alarm built in to his helmet warned Man-At-Arms of the armor's impending shut down. But before he could do anything about it Man-At-Arms was rocked by a ball of energy that struck him in the chest.  The armor's instantly jumped from warning to shutdown. Man-At-Arms would be at a disadvantage without the armor but he was once the Captain of the Royal Guards so his fighting skills would more than make up for his lack of shield or weaponry. Pressing a button on his chest plate the armor hiss As the seals popped and the armor clattered to the floor. Triumph flowed through Marzo as he watched Man-At-Arms evacuate his armor. Filled with a new found confidence Marzo prepared to lauch another magical onslaught. As Marzo raised his hands to conjure up a ball of magical energy Man-At-Arms leaped forward, he then landed on the floor in a roll. As Man-At-Arms came out of the roll Marzo noticed the he had snatched up the battle mace that he had dropped in the battle. Man-At-Arms came up on one knee and swung the mace, as the mace reached the arch in the swing it glowed a bright blue and a bolt of crackling blue and white energy shot from the head of the mace and collided with Marzo. Marzo was flung off his feet and he crashed through the doors of the royal throne room.

Chimera was bearing down on Teela. Teela was amazed at how skilful the huge monster was. She was using all her best moves just to avoid being struck by one of Chimera's rock hard fists. Teela ran towards Chimera and using her staff she began to vault over his massive head. Teela lashed out with a swift kick that caught Chimera on the side of the head. Chimera's head barely moved from the blow and as Teela soared over his head Chimera's hands snapped out with blinding speed and snatched Teela by the ankle. With her momentum suddenly gone Teela's body had no option other than to drop to the ground. Teela hit the ground hard and the air rushed from her lungs. Stunned Teela struggled to her feet as Chimera stalked her preparing to deliver another blow. Snarling Chimera raised his fists and was about to smash them in to Teela's skull when he was distracted by the sound of roaring engines rapidly getting closer. Chimera's head snapped around to the direction where the sound was coming from and using his powerful eye sight he spotted the oncoming figure of He-man riding the Lazer Bolt.

Chimera's instructions were clear, he had to warn his master that He-man was still alive and heading towards them. Ignoring Teela, Chimera closed his eyes and focused on opening a rift in space for him to pass through.

Teela had managed to get to one knee, her ribs hurt with every movement. Before her stood Chimera his eyes were close and a glowing shape was forming over his hulking body. Teela recognized it immediately as Chimera's ability to teleport. Bracing herself against the pain Teela leaped up and ran towards the quickly vanishing Chimera. With one powerful surge of energy Teela jumped and landed on Chimera. As Teela fought to keep her hold on Chimera the two vanished in Chimera's rift.

Marzo quickly scrambled to his feet. Looking over his shoulder he saw Man-At-Arms limping towards him. Reaching in to his belt Marzo grabbed a handful of powder. As Man-At-Arms grew closer Marzo flung his handful of powder at Man-At-Arms. Man-At-Arms threw his arms up to protect his face. The powder suddenly erupted in to flames which set fire to Man-At-Arms's unprotected clothes. With Man-At-Arms distracted by putting out the flames that threatened to engulf him, Count Marzo quickly span around and raced down the corridor as fast as he could. Marzo soon came to another set of large doors, Marzo quickly pushed the doors open to find himself in the palace banquet hall. Hanging above a wonderful display was a huge banner with 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEELA!!' printed in glowing ink.

Before Marzo could wander further in to the hall the familiar site of Chimera's exit from the rift appeared. Marzo's heart beat with excitement, with Chimera at his side he could put an end to the interference from Man-At-Arms and fulfil his destiny. As Marzo stepped towards Chimera he noticed that his bodyguard was struggling with something on his back. 

Even though to everyone the time between their entering the rift created by Chimera and their exit inside the Royal Palace was less than an eye blink the trip inside the rift seem to last longer. As they left the rift Teela was bleeding from several cuts on her head, face and body. But no matter how much it hurt Teela still had a vice-like grip on Chimera's neck. Chimera thrashed about like a wild animal trying to throw Teela off. Teela carefully let go with one hand and reached in to her belt. She removed a length of cable that she usually used with a grapple hook however this time she had other uses in mind. Teela quickly wrapped the cable around Chimera's neck. Chimera bucked like a wild animal as Teela tightened her grip on the cable, pulling it so that it cut of Chimera's air supply. No matter how hard he tried there was no way of throwing his back, Chimera started to get light headed and his legs began to stumble. Suddenly Chimera dropped to one knee; soon the second knee hit the floor. Then he suddenly toppled over and crashed to the ground. With Chimera unconscious Teela unwrapped the cable from around his neck and got up to confront Count Marzo.

With his plans destroyed Marzo began backing towards the door he had just come through. Just then the doors burst open and Marzo's exit was blocked by both He-man and Man-At-Arms.

"H-H-How did you escape my maze?" gasped Marzo.

"That doesn't matter," replied He-man. "What does matter is the amount of time you're going to spend on the Prison Star."

"There is no way I'm going to the Prison Star!" snapped Marzo. 

He then quickly reached in to a pouch he had inside his cape. Before anyone could react Marzo threw something to the ground. There was an explosion and thick smoke filled the hall. Once the smoke had cleared enough for them to see the Heroic Warriors saw that Marzo had vanished.

"He got away." Teela snarled in frustration.

"I'm sure he'll be back," said He-man looking at the smoke filled banquet hall. He then turned to Man-At-Arms. "Well it looks like the surprise has been ruined."

"I'm afraid it looks that way." Man-At-Arms.

Teela looked confused and He-man pointed to the birthday banner.

"Happy birthday Teela."

The End  


End file.
